


All the Grace of a Reckless Charge

by GuardianLioness



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: Class Change Musings, Culture Shock, Gen, Hoshido | Birthright Route, Liberties Taken with Canon Culture, shortfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-09 13:19:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19476718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GuardianLioness/pseuds/GuardianLioness
Summary: Silas knows that there are invisible rules. Manners of speech, forms of respect, quiet meanings in everything the Hoshidans say. He knows, but he does not understand.





	All the Grace of a Reckless Charge

Silas keeps the trousers from his cavalry uniform when his metal armor is discarded in favor of lacquered panels. The choice garners an odd look from Hinata, who demonstrates how to lace the plates and bind them in place with thick, braided cord.  
  
“The fabric — it won’t make it hard for you to move?”  
  
“It…would be simpler for me to adjust to the armor first.” Yes, his stances will be telegraphed, but given his inexperience, that fact doesn’t matter much. He won’t be able to match up to Lord Ryoma yet, even with the wide pants that the Hoshidan swordsmen wear to obscure their steps.  
  
A noncommittal noise slips from Hinata’s mouth, and Silas cringes. The answer is too opaque. Like a full-tilt cavalry charge on horseback, he’s pushed past a boundary that, despite all his efforts, still seems as formless to him as water.  
  
Hoshidans only face war head-on. Words, _questions_ , are glancing things. They brush like feathers against truth or skepticism. Too light to make any mark at all.  
  
It is respect, to them. The careful, askance speech. And he understands none of it.  
  
Even Corrin, as sweetly naive as she is, hears the subtle whispers with greater clarity. But Silas…there’s too much Nohr in him. The whole army knows.  
  
If Hinata, known for his outspoken nature, is put off by the direct phrasing of of Silas’s words, then there’s no hope, And yet, he’s still trying.  
  
Cavalry tactics fail when the line is comprised of a single rider. Were he a bowman, he could perhaps be of use anyway, darting in and out of the battlefield on horseback. He is not an archer, though. He knows only the lance and broadsword. Neither is useful without a cohort.  
  
Out of kindness to Corrin, Lord Ryoma has offered to instruct Silas in the art of Hoshidan swordplay. The suggestion is gratefully accepted.  
  
No matter what he does, he will never belong. His spirit will always be that of a knight of Nohr. He cannot learn the subtleties and measured speech of Corrin’s country, but he can learn the wide sweep and diagonal strike of the thin katana. He can be useful. Stand shoulder to shoulder with Hana and Hinata, the onmyoji spirit-callers falling into line behind them.  
  
Silas will never sound like them, but on the battlefield, his blade will sing just as theirs do, and maybe that will be enough.  



End file.
